LA School Report

Would-be candidates for next year’s LA Unified school board elections have until noon on Saturday, Nov. 8 to file a Declaration of Intention to run with the Los Angeles City Clerk.  Only those candidates who meet the deadline and submit a qualifying nominating petition will appear on the March 3, 2015 primary ballot. The deadline for...

According to a recent USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times Poll, 28 percent of likely voters were still undecided on the State Superintendent of Public Instruction race going into today’s election. This is despite roughly $30 million in combined campaign spending for Marshall Tuck and Tom Torlakson, both Democrats, and with education as the top priority for many California...

A tiny, rural school district in northern Los Angeles County is under growing scrutiny over its approval of more than 20 new charter schools in the last few years, the majority of them serving students outside of its own district boundaries. At least three are within the Los Angeles Unified School District. The small district,...

What you need to know about LA schools’ computer crisis KPCC compiled a short list of questions and answers about what’s been dubbed the “MISIS crisis” by teachers and administrators. KPCC Miramonte: 5 things to watch for as sex abuse civil trial begins Trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a big civil lawsuit filed...

*UPDATE The first civil trial against LA Unified over the sex abuse scandal at Miramonte Elementary School is headed to court later this week but first, a County Superior Court judge has ordered the two sides to meet for a last ditch effort to settle the case. Judge John Shepard Wiley has ordered the district to...

In a race still too close to call, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction election between incumbent Tom Torlakson and Marshall Tuck may come down to an unlikely pairing of minorities and Republicans. “There’s going to be a coalition of Republicans and minority voters if Tuck is going to do well on election day,” said Michael Madrid,...

Can LA Unified be saved? This difficult question is examined in the in latest episode of the PBS SoCal show, “Studio SoCal.” The episode features an in-depth discussion among the hosts Elizabeth Espinosa and Rick Reiff, reporter David Nazar and California Teachers Empowerment Network President Larry Sand, a frequent critic of UTLA, the LA teachers union. It also...

LA schools superintendent calls for hiring freeze, citing cash shortage Los Angeles Unified’s Interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered a temporary hiring freeze on district staff. KPCC Superintendent race turns on future of reform Spending in the race for California superintendent of public instruction has by far outstripped all other statewide races. Ed Source 2 firms...

Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the public face of the district’s two biggest technology programs, iPads and the new student-tracking system, resigned today in a shuffling of the district’s Information Technology Department. The move is the latest and most decisive change during Ramon Cortines‘s first two weeks as superintendent, and it comes as...

* UPDATED Ron Chandler, LA Unified’s Chief Information Officer and the official responsible for the implementation of MiSiS, the new student-tracking system, has has resigned after four years with the district. The move represents the most decisive change in Ramon Cortines’s first two weeks as superintendent. It comes as the district continues efforts to clean...